Google Maps Enter the Real Estate Search Field

July 7, 2009 Leave a comment

Image via CrunchBase

Google just upped the ante in the competitive field of real estate listing search engines.  In a move that certainly had a few established players (i.e. REALTOR.com, Zillow, Tulia, et.al.) do a double take, Google Maps incorporated a new tool into its site that links buyers and renters to available properties.   The feature was only launched in Australia and New Zealand yesterday, but I understand that selected metropolitan areas in the United States are already able to utilize the service.

The following is an instructional video on how to utilize the service:

more about “Google Maps“, posted with vodpod

 
So what’s the big deal?

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It’s Here!

June 18, 2009 Leave a comment

Open for business!

Lancaster County Convention Center

Whether you were an original fan or opponent of the downtown convention center, it’s time to unite.  It is now officially open for business.  Instead of a vacant, aging monstrosity of a building on Penn Square; Lancastrians now have a beautiful, state of the art showpiece that we can now be proud of.  You can take a virtual tour of the facility by visiting their website.  The website also does a good job of promoting events and businesses in downtown Lancaster. Take the time to visit the facility over the next couple of days and welcome our newest resident to the neighborhood.
    
The following article appeared on LancasterOnline this morning:

Long Road to a Ribbon Cutting for Convention Center
$174 million project opens this week

For the Penn Square hotel/convention center, today is one part finish line, one part starting gate.

Developers and backers of the $174 million hotel/convention center on Penn Square this morning will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony, one day before the center is scheduled to open.

Yet, while it may look like construction is complete and the lights are ready to come on — after a decade of legal fights, building delays and skyrocketing material costs — today’s event is merely another milestone.

What begins when the facility opens Friday is a 20-year effort to pay back debt and confirm whether promises of a successful lodging and meeting center will prove true.

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Psst . . . Don’t Tell Anyone!

June 2, 2009 2 Comments

"Sell my listing . . . but don't tell anyone."

Image courtesy of Flickr

When I first got into the real estate business year’s ago, occasionally I would run into a seller that told me to sell their home quickly at the highest price but with some of the following caveats:
  • “Don’t put a sign on my front lawn.  I don’t want my neighbors to know that I’m selling.”
  • “Don’t put my home in the MLS.  I want to keep the sale of my house as private as possible.”
My response was always the same; “Are you out of your mind?”  Actually, I conveyed my message a little differently but the point was always the same; “Mr. & Mrs. Seller, in order for me to get your home sold in the shortest period of time at the highest price, I need all the tools available to me.  That includes . . . . “  At the end of the day, I would get the listing, use all the tools and eventually sell the home.
  
I can understand this line of reasoning from a seller (hmmm – not really) but from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), I’m floored!
  
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If the Shoe Fits . . .

May 29, 2009 Leave a comment

Zappos - Powered by service!

Image courtesy of Flickr

I’m going to be right up front and tell you that this post is not about shoes; so if anybody is looking for tips on what kind of shoes go with that black cocktail dress – sorry to disappoint.  I’ve never been mistaken for a fashion consultant anyway.  It’s about a shoe company – Zappos.com.  Zappos is an on-line retailer of shoes that was founded in 1999 and has grown over the past ten years into a business that does over $1 billion in sales.  Over the weekend I read an article about Zappos that blew me away so I thought I’d share the highlights.

In order to understand how Zappos has made such a giant splash in a short period of time, you first have to look at their published core values:

  1. Deliver WOW through service.
  2. Embrace and drive change.
  3. Create fun and a little weirdness. (Imagine GM having this as one of their core values)
  4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
  5. Pursue growth and learning.
  6. Build open and honest relationships with communication.
  7. Build a positive team and family spirit.
  8. Do more with less.
  9. Be passionate and determined.
  10. Be humble.

Now that you’ve read them, take a moment and find one that talks about the product that they sell – Shoes.  Go ahead – I’ll wait – tick – tock – tick – tock – time’s up.  I couldn’t find one either.

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Tough Questions For Tough Times

May 23, 2009 Leave a comment

 
Over the last decade, the role of a REALTOR® has changed drastically.  REALTORS® are no longer the gate-keepers of information because of the proliferation of real estate related web sites on the internet.  Consumers today can compare mortgage rates of various lenders, read about ways to improve the marketability of their home and obtain comparable home data from the comfort of their home without any interaction from a real estate professional.

While a REALTORS® role may have changed, it doesn’t mean our importance as a trusted advisor has waned.  In fact, our function today is more valuable than ever.

I read an article on REALTOR.org by Steve Harney that drives this point home.  Steve specializes in negotiation and leadership training and has been in the industry for more than twenty years, first in sales and then as broker-owner of a 500-associate real estate company.  He explains that the REALTOR® of today needs to be able to take all that information that is readily available to the consumer and interpret it for them.  Here are four questions that Steve lists in his article that today’s real estate practitioner needs to be able to address.  Notice that none of them has anything to do with providing a printout or a body of statistics but rather furnishes a valuable interpretation and opinion of why things are the way they are today.

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Start YELPING!

May 18, 2009 1 Comment

  

Are you YELPING?
Screenshot of yelp.com

Found an interesting and useful website while browsing over the weekend.  The site is yelp.com.  The site is all about the power of ‘word-of-mouth’ amplified.  It is loaded with reviews of local businesses from real people on just about anything you can imagine in your area.  Want to know something about that new Italian restaurant that just opened up down the block?  How about which beauty spa gets high marks for service?  Where should you buy your next kitten?  I also found this website great to learn about businesses and service providers when you are traveling out of town.  Happy YELPING!

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Are We Really in a Housing Crisis?

April 18, 2009 Leave a comment

Is it really this bad?

Image courtesy of Flickr

Most of our elected government officials right now are scrambling around trying to fix Humpty-Dumpty because he fell off the “Housing” wall and is supposedly shattered in a thousand pieces.  All the kings horses and all the kings men are trying to put the pieces back together again.  But what if Humpty-Dumpty doesn’t need fixing?  What if all he has is a bad cold that will run its course regardless of the medicine that is administered?  Essentially, that is what Todd Zywicki, a law professor at George Mason University, is saying.  Zywicki has done extensive research on the subject of bankruptcy and foreclosure and has appeared before Congress as an expert witness to testify on the subject.
    
In a recent article* that appeared on Forbes.com, Zywicki takes serious umbrage with the way President Obama and his administration is handling the housing situation in this country.  Obama has recently referred to the housing situation as a “crisis” that is “unraveling home ownership, the middle class and the American Dream itself.”  Zywicki’s assertion is that this just isn’t the case.  Before you unload on me and say that I’m just another conservative (I am) Republican (I am) wack-job (questionable) trying to drag down our country and the Democrats, consider this – - – I voted for him.

Zywicki’s research indicates that different parts of the country experience different sets of problems when it comes to real estate.  In other words, one size doesn’t fit all which is essentially what he argues the Obama Administration is trying to do with its housing policy.  Zywicki points to three distinct types of housing markets that exist today:

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Money For First-Time Homebuyers in Lancaster City

March 19, 2009 Leave a comment

       
Let's buy a house in Lancaster!The following article has been reproduced in it’s entirety from Lancaster City Living, a popular website promoting the benefits of living in Lancaster City.  After you’re done reading the article, explore the website where you’ll find a brief history of the Red Rose City and the many attributes that set it apart from other cities in the Keystone State and the US.

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CITY HOME PURCHASES GET BOOST OF $5K *
Buyers now eligible for federal help on closing costs, down payments.

Buying a first city home just got a little easier for low- to moderate-income residents.

First-time homebuyers in the city will now have access to a pool of $350,000 in assistance for down payment and closing costs through the Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership.

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